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MT. BUFFALO NATIONAL PARK

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The Mount Buffalo National Park is a little more than 200 miles by rail north-eastward from Melbourne, and is reached from either Porepunkah or Bright by road. The Railway Department, which operates the commodious Chalet on Mount Buffalo, runs a regular motor service between the railway and the summit of the mount. Comfortable cars are used, and arrangements can be made for transfer direct from the train to the Chalet.

Mount Buffalo National Park is the finest mountain resort in Australia. It has an altitude of 5645 feet, and offers a diversity of magnificent mountain scenery, including gorges, waterfalls, colossal granite masses, fern gullies, and lakes and streams teeming with trout. At all seasons it is a wonderful holiday playground. Its winter snow and ice sports are thrilling. The wildflowers in spring and summer are exquisite.

Accommodation is provided at the entirely modern Chalet, controlled by the Victorian Railway Department, away up thousands of feet on the plateau, and in close proximity to the head of the famous Buffalo Gorge.

There is hardly a road in Australia more picturesque than that connecting the railway and main road in the valley with the plateau. Every yard is an inspiration, and almost the whole well-graded, sinuous 20 miles from Bright through Porepunkah to the Plateau, is a realm of scenic wonder.

The road crosses the Eurobin Creek at a point a short distance below the Eurobin and Ladies' Bath Falls.

The Eurobin Fails, reached by an easy walk beside a mountain stream, are formed by the water which flows from the Plateau through a deep glen.

On the course of the Falls Creek, as the stream flowing from the foot of the Buffalo Gorge is called, occurs the beautiful spectacle known as the Ladies' Bath Fails. These are about 40 feet deep, the water dropping into a rocky basin, several hundred yards from the Eurobin Falls.

Skirting the eastern bank of the Eurobin Creek, the road rises gradually. About a mile and a half beyond Buffalo Falls House a magnificent view of the 1700 feet "drop" and the Buffalo Falls is obtained.

About seven miles from its start the road comes on to a clear spot called Mackey's Lookout (named after a former Minister for Lands). From this point a wonderful panoramic view is obtained.

There is a sharp turn from here, and the way leads through granite country, past Staker's Lookout (named after a tourist pioneer of the mountain), then over the crest, and the plateau is reached. A small plain is traversed, a bridge spanning the aptly named Crystal Brook is crossed, and suddenly around a sweeping turn the Chalet comes into view.


One of the finest views at Mount Buffalo is that from Bent's Lookout (4,400 feet) near the front of the Chalet. Immediately below are the cultivated fields in the Buckland Valley. In the dim distance are the glistening snow-capped peaks of the Australian Alps, including Mount Kosciusko, (7,328 feet) the highest peak in Australia.

Peaks and Plateaus of Victoria, Australia

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